Women’s soccer falls to Ole Miss in SEC Tournament quarterfinals
November 7, 2013
Staff report
For the fourth consecutive year, UK women’s soccer lost in their first match of the SEC Tournament.
The Cats (13-6-1, 7-5-0 SEC) lost 2-0 to the University of Mississippi (15-4-2, 8-3-1 SEC) in the quarterfinals after being shutout for a fourth time this season. UK has not won a SEC Tournament game since 2006, when they won the conference championship.
UK had to play catch-up after the 22nd minute when Ole Miss senior forward Mandy McCalla intercepted a UK pass near the box and shot it past UK senior goalkeeper Kayla King. It was McCalla’s 14th goal of the season, which is good for second-best on the team.
The Cats were in a deeper hole in the 55th minute when Rebels senior forward Rafaelle Souza was rewarded a penalty shot opportunity after she was tackled in the box. Souza scored her team-leading 19th goal of the season off the penalty kick to give the Rebels the second goal.
Ole Miss maintained its two-goal lead for the remainder of the match as they held the Cats to 11 shots on the match. Meanwhile, the Rebels had 11 shots in the second half, as Ole Miss totaled 18 shots on the night. The Rebels also had 12 corner kick opportunities on the match compared to UK’s two corner kicks.
After allowing 13 goals in the team’s first 14 games, UK allowed 12 goals in their last six games of the season, including the quarterfinal match. The Rebels scored 21 goals in their last 10 games of the season.
The shutout by Ole Miss was also their ninth defensive shutout of the season.
UK will wait to hear their fate for the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament come Monday. If the Cats are selected, it will be the program’s 10th tournament appearance, and the third straight appearance in the Jon Lipsitz head coaching era.
